Vertically-sliding door for elevator-shafts.



B. WFXLER.

VERTICALLY SLIDlNG DOOR FOR ELEVATOR SHAFTS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2, 1915- 1 1 97,3 1 7. Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

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Sept. 4 $HEETS-SHEH 2.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2. I915.

Patented 5, 1916.

Inventor:

mm, kitty B. WEXLER VERTICALLY SLIDING DOOR FOR ELEVATOR SHAFTS.

APPLICATION FILE D SEPT. 2 i915 Patented Sept. 5 1916.

SHEET 3.

4 SHiETS B. WEXLER. VERTICALLY SLIDING DOOR FOR ELEVATOR S HAFTS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2. I915- 1 ,1 97,3 1 7. Patented bcpt. a, 1916.

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UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE. A

BENJAMIN WEXLEYR, or NEW "YORK, N. Y.

VERTICALLY-SLIDING 150011 FOR EL-EVATOR-SH-AEIS.

Application filed September 2, 1915. Serial No. 48,593;

To allalihom it may concern:

le it known that -I,'BENJAMIN VVExnEn, a citizen ofthe United States,- and a resident of New York city, borough of. Brooklyn, in the county. of Kings and State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful ln'ipro'vements in Vertically-Hiding, Doors for Elev-ator-Shafts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements 1n vertically sliding doors for elevator shafts.

Elevator doors made in accordance with my invention helongtoa type ofdoor-em- Imdvisg therein a plurality of counterwcigntnrl scct'ionsvall of which have simultaneous mo uncut in the same direction, but

at. varyii f speeds. to facilitate the rapid opening' a ll closing of the doors and topernutthe use oflarge door openings anddoors l clv to the space between the hotel of a door opening on onefioor and the sill of ihc'door opening. on the floor above. Heretofore .in "floors of this type, it has been the 'vracx'icc tojconne'ct each of. the door sections by flexiblesus 'iension meansjwith a coun terweig'ht, said suspension means passing over ordinaryfpullcys mounted in the eletutor shaft adjacent and above the door pcfilflf, .the suspension means connected with the slower moving door-section being passed about a pulley upon sa d door section' {and the end thereof being secured adjacent {the pulley in the elevator shaft so as to cause that door section to move at exactly .one half the speed of the other section.

ln-afiloor made in accordance with my invention -I am not only cnahled to dispense with the pullcy upon the more slowly moving door section. hut provide' a structure wherein the 'c('r unter\\-'cight does not act directlycupon either door section through the 'suspeusi m means therefor, but acts upon an intermediate shaft from which both the said doors are intern edia haft and the means carried therehyci perating with said suspension means. licing such as to permit the desired varyi'n speeds of the various door sections. By this construction two or more door sections may heuscd, the comparative sizes of which is capable of any desired variation, sincc the device upon the shaft witlrwhich each of' the doors'is connected, maybe made to conform to any size or weightof door ir- "ispccti e of any definite ratio of relative I Specification ofLetters Patent.

)euded, the construction of this i Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

speeds such as must be preserved when pulleys are used as heretofore. The variance in the speeds of the door sections is secured by a variance in the leverage of the means with which the suspension means is operatively connected and hence the counterweight used need not equal the aggregate weight of all of the door sections fluit is de? termined by the relative leverages of the mechanisms operative to raise said'doors and of the operative leverage by. which the operative moment of said; weight transmitted to said shaft. I also preferably so construct the means upon the rotatable shaft cooperating \vitlrthc suspension means: aspto' minimize any possibility of the suspension means heing rlisplzi'cerlavitl'i relation to their cooperating means by reason of the slackness in the suspension means due to asudden stopp age of the door sections following a rapid movement thereof.

It is'apparent that my invention may be 1 adapted with equal facility to/a. door in which the sectiohs-moveeither UpwardlyOIj downwardly 'it hein-g merelyrequired, to change from one style of door to the other, to' reverse the. arrangement .of the suspension means. :I also provide .guiding means ian'ism cooperz'iting with a keeper on-the (loot: sill, the opening-of which will result from the application-of force thereto applied in a direction to raise the door;

The invention consists in the novel fea-' V turcsof construction and combination] of parts hereinafter set forth and described and more particularly pointed out in the claims hereto'appended.

In the accompanying drawingsin which like letters of referenceindicate likeparts in in connection with thelmvermost door v tion of upwardly moving doors, a locking all the figures: .Figure 1 is a face vievfof shown in Fig. 9, both doors being lowered one embodiment of my new and improved door, closed, parts being broken out and others shown in section. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on the line M of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional "iew on the line bb of Fig. 1. Fig. fl is a detail perspective view of the'door sections, their guides and other parts, parts being broken away and others shown in section. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the two doors in position when closed, parts being broken awayand others shown in section. F ig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view showing a constructionof the guides for use on masonry, wallswithout an iron skeleton, sunk into the. wall so as not to interfere with movements of the weight. Fig. 7 is a detail perspectiveview of the latch,"'parts being broken away. Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view of the latch, with the removable key for opening the doors from the loft side, on the line d-d of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a face view of my improved doors so hung that-the sections open downward and the upper door is practically flush with the floor when the doors are open, to form a truckable sill, parts being broken away. Fig. 10 is a cross sectional view of parts of the construction into open position and practically flush with the building floor.

In Figs. 1 to 8 of the accompanying drawings, I have shown the. embodiment of my invention in an elevator door c0mprisinga lower section A, and an upper section B, each of which sections is of substantially the same'size, weight and const-ruc tion as the other. The detail construction of these sections is immaterial to my present invention as they may be made in accordance with any well known or approved practice for resisting heat and flame. In the accompanying drawings, each of these door sections is shown as being composed of a T-iron frame 1; supporting a corrugated sheet metal sheathing 2,'riveted, bolted or otherwise secured thereto.

Adjacent each side of the door opening in the elevator shaft is a vertically extending anglesiron 6 one flange of which projects into the shatt and has secured thereto two vertically extending guides 5, formed of angle iron, one flange of each of which is secured to'the inwardly directed flange of the angle iron 6, the other flange 4 thereof ex-- tending perpendicularly thereto upon parallel vertical planes to insure the desired overlapping of the door sections. In the accompanying drawings, the door opening is shown as having a metallic fr me composed of the channels .7, the ang e irons 6 being secured to said channel and projecting with the guides 5-upwardly beyond the lintel of the door sufficiently to permit both door sections to pass above said lintel.

v with the vertical guides 5.

Carried 'by the lower door section areone' To prevent side swaying of the door sections A-B and at-the same time permit expansion thereof in the event of overheating from fire or flame, I provide the opposite edges of each section with expansion pieces or members 8 consisting of a narrow strip of metal riveted or otherwise secured to the said frame and projecting outwardly therefrom into engagement with the top of the flange 4 of the guides 5. The expansion pieces or members 8' are made of metal stock sufficiently light to permit their being bent toward or from the said frame either under pressure resulting from the expansion of the door section, or by means of tools in fitting the door section. By having said expansion pieces or members bear upon the top, of the flange 4, they are readily accessible.=for fitting purposes. To insure the expansion pieces or members 8 remaining in the desired running engagement with their respective flange 4, I provide the frame 1 with forked guides 13 straddling the edge of said fiange. These guides are to insure a substantially vertical movement of the door as well as. to preserve the proper relation of the expansion pieces or members 8 or more vertically extending retaining bars i) havingan extended head 'slid'ably mounted in a shoe 10 carried by the upper section B,

tion of the door section :A intermediate the guides to prevent warping thereof. Said retaining bars 9 are attached directly to the corrugated sheathing 2 ofthedoor, the opposite ends thereofbeiug reduced to receive the web of the frame'lfto which said bars are also firmly secured by riveting or other= wise.

The shoes 10 are secured to the section B by means of an angle iron 12, one flange 11 of which extends vertically and is presented toward the section A and the other flange of which is secured to the" base of the T- iron bottom bar 1 of the said section B. The shoes 10 in addition to serving as guides for the bars 9"also act as stops with which the base of the top frame 1 of the section A is adapted toengage when the doors are closed. The shoes 10 are provided p 15 door.

30 plied i 40 simultaneously with, the lower section.

ed to roject therefrom in a manner to engage t e shoes 14.

Mounted in a suitable bearing piece or block 19, preferably bolted or otherwise secured to the angle irons 6, are shafts having mounted thereon and rotatable therewith sprocket Wheels 18 and 21 adapted to cooperate witl. suspension means for the door sections A and B in raising and lowering said sections in opening and closing the Connected with the section A and passing over the sprocket wheel 18, is a sprocket chain 17 and connected with the section B and passing over the sprocket 21 is a second sprocket chain 22, case in the movement of said door sections in opening the door resulting from the rotation of the shaft carrying said sprocket wheels 18 and 21 under the influence of the counterweight 20 operative upon said shaft and said wheels In closing the door, the load of the sections A-JB is resisted by said counterweight, ease in the movement of said sections resulting from the application of the aggregate weight of said door sections, ap-

through the suspension means, to turn said sprocket wheels in the reverse dire:- tion. In the form of the invention shown I apply the load of the counterweight 20 to the sprocket wheels 18 and E21 by attaching said weight to the end of the chain 17.

In the accompanying drawings the invention is shown as applied to a two section door, the upper section of which mores at substantially one half the speed of and l nder this condition the sprocket 21.- will be one half the diameter of the sprocket 18, thus causing the peripheral velocity of said sprocket 21 to be just one half that of the sprocket 18 with a resultant proportionate rate of travel of the two door sections A and B. Inasmuch as the counterweight 2O acts upon a radius of the sprocket wheel 18 which is twice the radius of the wheels 21 o it is apparent that the combined weight of the countcrweiglits acting on the two door sections need be but about three quarters of the weight of these sections to secure a reliable countcrbalancing thcrcol'. \Vhcre more than two sections are used, the gross weight of the counterweights may be determined by the relative weights of the several sections, the diameters of the sprocket wheels cooperating with the chains used in suspending each section and the leverage at which the counterweights act upon the sh atts carrying the several sprocket whccls. It will be observed that the connected with the counterweights 20. To

5 minimize likelihood of the chains 17 and 22 chains 22 are not loosing their mesh with the-sprocket wheels 18 and 20 respectively, I provide each of said wheels with shrouds as shown and also provide the block 19 with guard sections projecting over said sprocket wheels in close proximity to the teeth thereof so that in the event of slackness in the chain through a sudden stoppage of the door section, said chains cannot overrun the sprocket teeth in a manner to become disengaged from their respective wheels. By using sprocket wheels and sprocket chains, I secure a positive connection between the flexible suspension means for the door sections and the means cooperating therewith, the counterweighting of the doors being etfected by the application of the desired weight to the said sprocket wheels or other means, as distinguished from the application of the weight directly to the doors or door sections through suspension chains or cables passing over anti-friction rollers or pulleys.

The sill 23 is provided with two undercut slots '24 for receiving hooks 25 formed on the ends of angle levers 26 pivoted at 27 tothe lower door, the upper ends of the angle levers being connected by bars 28 with a vertically sliding plate 29 held in place by a keeper 30. The plate 29 has a notch 31 for receiving an arm 32 mounted on a pin 33 passing through the door. The plate 29 can be raised by means of a top flange and 36 is a safety pin to prevent the flange 35 from contacting with the top of the keeper 30 and ln'uising the fingers. The pin 33 projects into a bushing 37 and is provided with a cross piece 38 fitting into one end of a tubular key 34 which is notched to receive the crmss piece 38. A helical spring 250 in the tubular key serves to throw out and disengage the key from the cross piece 38 as soon as the key is released.

In I igs. 9 and 10 I have shown the doors arranged to slide downward in opening, and upward in closing. The relations of the chains. sprocket wheels and weight remain the same, but the chain to which the upper door is attached is now the one which carries the weight and the lower one is attached to the chain without the weight and passing over the smaller sprocket wheel. The doors when lowered are sul'istantially flush with the door 40 as shown in Fig. 10. An angle iron 41 is attached to the top of the frame of the upper door A and extends over the top edge of the lower door B as well as that of the upper door A when the doors are lowered. 42 a filler between the flange of the angle 41 and the corrugated iron. A stop lug 4 is attached to the guides and can contact with the ends of the top bar 41 ot' the upper door A to form a positive stop so that trucks can be passed over the lowered doors when the angle iron 41 is flush with the floor 10, without in any Way injuriously affecting the chains, In this form of the inventirm, the top bar 41 in addition to the support received at the ends thereof from the lugs 43, will he supported intermediate said lugs by the guide are 9 as well as the T-bar constituting the top of the frame of the section A. In this form of theinvention the operation of the various parts in raising and lowering the door sections in opening and closing the door, will be substantially as heretofore described, the arrangement shown in Figs. 9 and 10 being a mere reversal of the arrange ment shown in the remaining figures of the drawing.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A vertically sliding door for elevator shafts embodying therein a plurality of sections, parallel guides for said section, independent suspension means for each of said sections, rotary members of different diameters to which said suspension means re spectively are positively connectwl, said members being adapted to rotate in unison and a counterweight positively connected with and simultaneously acting upon said rotatable members whereby the load of said countcrveight will be applied to said memhers and will be transmitted through said members to said suspension means and said door sections,

52. A vertically sliding door for elevator shafts en'ibodying therein a plurality of sections, parallel guides for said section, inde pendentsuspension means for cach of said sections. rotary means of different diameters towhich said suspension members respectively are positivcly connected, said membcin adapted to rotate in un son and a counterweight positively coimwtcd with and simultaneously acting, upon said rota table members whereby the load of said Countcnvcight will he applied to said menu hers and will be transmitted through said members to said suspension means and said door sectio'ns, the load of said counterweight being applied to said rotary members at a leverage greater than that of the average diameter of said members.

3. A vcrticady sliding door for clcvator shafts llil)fi(l\ ilif therein a plurality of sections, parallel. guides for said sections. a plrn ralitv of sprocket wheris of diilcrm/ diamctcrs niounmd upon and rotatable with arbors common thereto, sirorkci hains passing over said wheels re Evcl and Til; door sections rcspic touu'ieiw c1 n and sins acting upon said sprc the load of said Cbuntbl' .t

plied to said Wheels and will be transmitted. through said wheels to said suspension means and said door sections.

4. A vertically sliding door for elevator shafts embodying therein a plurality of sections, parallel guides for said sections, a plurality of sprocket wheels of diilerent diamctcrs mounted upon, and. rotatable with, arbors common thereto, sprocket chains passing over said wheels respectively and connected with said door sections respectively whereby each of said sections is positively and independently connected with its sprocket wheel, means whereby the disengagement of said chains with said wheels respectively is prevented, and a counterweight acting upon said sprocket wheels whereby the load of said counterweight will he applied to said wheels and will be trans mittcd through said wheels to said suspension means and said door sections.

5 A vertically sliding door for elevator shafts embodying therein a plurality of sections, parallel guides for said sections, a bearing piece, a plurality of sprocket wheels of different diameters mounted upon, and rotatablc with, arbors common thereto mounted in said bearing piece. said sprocket chains passing over said sprocket wheels respectively and being connected with said door sections respectively whereby each of said sections is positively and independently connected with its sprocket wheel, said hearing piece being provided with guard sec tions projecting over said sprocket wheels in close proximity to the teeth thereof, and said sprocket wheels being provided with shrouds whereby the disengagement of said chains with said wheels respectively is prevented,

and a counterweight acting upon said counterweight will be applied to said wheels and will be transu'iittcd through said Wheels to said suspension means and said door secticns.

l 6. \wzi-rtically sliding door for elevator shafts cinbmlyiug therein a plurality of sec.- tions, parallel guides for said sections, independent suspension means for each of said sections, rotary members of different diametcrs to which said suspension means respectively are positively connected, said members hcingr adapted to rotate in unison, a counterweight positively connected with and simultaneously acting upon Said rotatable rszcnihcrs whcrcby the load of said roumci \-=,i;5bt will be applied to said mcinbcrs and will be transmitted throughsaid lililiil l'iR to said suspension means and said door tions, and means whereby side sway- Z1, door is prevented.

winiiination with two door secx l to slide xcrticall and ovc lap, 11 chain. a (tamed to one door secpasses, :1 weight attached to the opposite end of said chain, a sprocket wheel connected with the above mentioned sprocket wheel, a

separate eprock'et chain passed over said second sprocket wheel and connected with the other door section, only, substantially as set forth.

The combination with two door tions mounted to slide vertically and over- 10 hp, of a sprocket chain attached to one door section, a sprocket wheel over which sui chain PLISDHF, a weight attached to the opposite end of said chain, a sprocket wheel connectcd with the above mentioned sprocket 1 wheel, a separate sprocket chain passed over said second s n'ocket wheel and connected with the other door section, only, the sprocket wheel over which the chain not com'iectcd with the weight passes, being of less diameter than the sprocket wheel over 20 which the chain passes that is connected with the weight, substantially as set forth. Signed at New York city, borough of Manhattan in the county of New York and State of New York this 1st day of Septem- 25 her A. D. 1915.

BENJAMIN NEXLER.

Witnesses M. SHAW, l). S. MrronEnL. 

